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Arrogant.
Insolent.
Rude.
That was my first thought the moment I laid eyes on her.
Two years older than me.
Eyes that tilted upward at the corners.
Hair that fell in wild, unruly waves.
And what a color, vivid, screaming red, so red it looked less like hair and more like someone had thrown raw paint at her head.
My first impression: savage.
She was exactly the kind of kid I hate.
“Nice to meet you.
I’m Rudeus Greyrat.”
She hadn’t made me angry yet, so I greeted her the way I’d just been taught.
“Hmph!”
One glance at me.
Then the exact same snort her grandfather had given me.
She planted her feet wide, crossed her arms over her chest, and stared down at me with the most openly contemptuous expression I’d ever seen on a child.
And she was taller than me, which meant the staring down was literal.
The moment our eyes met, she spoke.
“What the heck!
This guy’s even smaller than me!
They want someone like this to be my teacher?
What a joke!”
Well.
Saw that coming.
The self-esteem was obvious from ten feet away.
Not that I care.
“I think age has nothing to do with it.”
“What!
You have a problem with me?!”
Her voice was loud enough that I genuinely thought my ears had started ringing.
“Hmm.
As my student, you should learn to respect others.
Most importantly — respect me.
Respect your teacher.”
The moment I said that, her hair seemed to stand on end.
So rage really is something you can see with the naked eye.
“You’re too insolent!
Do you even know who I am?!”
“My cousin’s daughter.
Which makes you…
my older cousin?”
“What the heck!
I don’t understand a word of that!”
She might be even more single-minded than I thought.
Or she simply doesn’t bother thinking.
“Have you heard the name Paul?”
“Of course I haven’t!”
“I see.”
She hasn’t…
Right.
How do I explain any of this to someone who clearly isn’t working with all the gears turning?
I was still thinking it through when she raised her hand.
SMACK!
She brought it straight down.
I caught it with mine, but the force made one thing perfectly clear: she genuinely meant to leave a mark.
More than a mark.
“What are you doing?”
That was sudden.
She had tried to slap me.
I’d blocked it.
But still, wasn’t this just a little rude, even for her?
I thought about what the old man had said earlier.
Etiquette lessons.
I nearly laughed.
The girl before me spoke with the exact same arrogance as before.
“I’m going to beat you up!”
“Why?”
“Because you’re smaller than me and you still dare to act so cocky!”
“I see.”
What a rude kid.
Not even half as cute as my little sisters.
My sisters were only one year old, but they were already twice the person this girl was.
They wouldn’t grow up into something like this, would they?
Actually, better not think about that.
Too terrifying.
I brought my attention back to the present.
“In that case,” I said, “I’m going to retaliate.”
“What?!”
I didn’t wait for an answer.
I slapped her across the face.
SMACK!
A satisfying sound.
“Now you know what it feels like to be hit.
Try to put yourself in other people’s shoes.”
I had barely finished the sentence when she came at me, disheveled hair flying, fist raised high.
She looked like a Nio statue.
Actually, genuinely looked like one.
“Do you know who you just laid hands on?!
I will make you regret this!”
She swung at me.
I slipped to the side, caught her arm, and sent her to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw.
When she tried to scramble back up, I cast a spell and froze her feet in place.
The kind that holds without hurting.
“Lesson one.
When you don’t know an enemy’s capabilities, learn to control your emotions first.
As your teacher, I also have a duty to teach you combat fundamentals.
My close-quarters isn’t anything special, but it’s more than enough for you.”
“You coward!
Using magic!”
“Hmm?”
Ah.
So in her head, winning with magic is cheating.
Which meant that no matter how many times I beat her with magic, she’d never admit it.
And I couldn’t exactly kill her.
If things stayed like that, she’d spend the rest of her life finding creative ways to make mine miserable.
Flower vases dropped from staircases.
A knife in the dark while I slept.
“Fine.
I’ll make you submit with strength.”
I released the spell.
“If you lose to me in a straight fight, then —”
She was already in my face before I could finish.
High kick first, thrown with everything she had, like she genuinely intended to kick me into the ground.
I caught it.
Then she bore in and bear-hugged me, abandoning any pretense of technique entirely.
She knew she couldn’t match me in skill.
So she switched to brute force.
Arms locked around me, she drove her knee into my stomach.
Again.
Again.
“Ugh —!”
I spat.
What a joke.
How was I getting beaten up by a nine-year-old?
I let go of every shred of dignity I had left and started brawling back.
An hour later, we were both flat on the ground, too exhausted to move.
I lay there panting.
“Heh…
heh heh…
Now…
now you know to respect your teacher, right…?”
That got a reaction.
Weak as she was, her eyes lit up like I’d thrown oil on coals.
“Wh, what a joke!
I’m going to…
I’m going to beat you until you submit!”
“Hehe…
Sacred power is sweet sustenance, grant the strength to stand once more to those who have lost their vigor.
Healing.”
I cast it on myself.
The exhaustion drained away.
I stood up.
“So.
Another round?”
“You cheat!
You despicable person!”
She screamed it with everything she had left.
“Do you admit defeat?
If you don’t, I’ll hit you again.
Admit defeat and acknowledge me as your teacher, and I’ll heal you.”
Silence.
Then:
“I admit defeat…
You…
you are my teacher…”
Heh.
So she does know how to bend when the moment calls for it.
“Good.
Sacred power is sweet sustenance, grant the strength to stand once more to those who have lost their vigor.
Healing.”
I cast it on her, then let out a long breath.
That was genuinely not easy.
The thought had barely finished forming when something slammed into my back.
Hard.
“You!”
I turned.
Eris stood there, one foot still raised from the kick.
“You cheated first!”
She shouted it, then didn’t attack again.
“I acknowledge it!
You…
you are…
you are my rival!
And I’m giving you permission to call me Eris!
That’s special treatment!”
She turned and walked away without another word.
I watched her go.
Then I sighed.
“Seriously…
it’s going to be a long road.”
➤ Next: A New Environment